‘No Tests, only T20s in Pak now’

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan informed yesterday during a press conference that the board has been given directives from the government to only go for a short tour of Pakistan. After a board meeting yesterday, the board has decided that they are only willing to play the T20 series in Pakistan at the moment and cited that the present unrest in the Middle East was the reason behind this particular directive from the government.

“After we got security advice regarding the Pakistan tour, we applied for government order (GO) for the whole series. While we haven’t got all the papers in our hand yet, we received a screenshot and have known of the salient points. The situation in the Middle East is different from other times. Considering the escalating situation in the Middle East, the government has told that the tour should be as short as possible. We have been given directives to come back following a very short T20 tour, and if the situation improves, then to play the Tests later,” the BCB president said.

“This is what we have received and we are going to communicate the same thing to the PCB,” he added.

Pakistan had previously communicated to the BCB that they wanted to prioritise the Test series and play the longer format first and reschedule the T20I series for another time.

During a four-hour long meeting, the board had discussed various issues with the central contract of players a major issue in the agenda. The central contract is being updated to accommodate recent changes, especially to include some new faces. ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who was previously in the ‘A+’ category, has asked the board to not include him in the central contract list, according to the BCB boss. 

“Mashrafe has asked me not to include him in the central contract. He will still be playing but his reason for the request was so that someone new can get a central contract. So the central contract will possibly not have Mashrafe in it,” Hassan said.

Test matches are also going to be prioritised with a significant increase in match fees. The new proposal will see match fee for T20s increase to Tk 2 lakh from Tk 1.25 lakh. ODI match fee will be bumped from Tk 2 lakh to Tk 3 lakh while the match fee for Tests will rise from Tk 4 lakh to Tk 6 lakh.

The BCB also discussed ‘steps to excellence’ from 2020 till 2022. Hassan informed that the board approved consultant Ross Turner’s proposal of a three-year training program. “Major emphasis will be on educational programs of umpires, coaches and curators, to increase their standard, and the program will start very soon this year,” Hassan informed.

Playing grounds were also discussed to reduce the scheduling pressure on the limited number of grounds present at the moment. The Sylhet ground is already undergoing changes while improving Barishal divisional stadium was discussed. An MOU has been signed with the Mymensingh Agricultural University to get two grounds ready.

National team sponsorship rights will come to an end soon and a new tender will be floated for the next two years. The BCB president also informed that three names have been shortlisted for the role of bowling coach, but no name has been finalised. Nazmul also added that he would travel to Dubai today to meet ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar.

He also informed that the BCB was planning to permanently name BPL as Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL).